Plane catches fire on takeoff at Manila airport, 8 dead
- 29 Mar 2020
A Japan-bound plane caught fire on takeoff at Manila airport in the Philippines late on Sunday, killing all eight people on board, airport authorities said.
The Westwind aircraft was headed for Haneda airport on a medical evacuation mission carrying six Filipino crew members and two passengers, an American and a Canadian, authorities said without naming any of them.
Firefighters rushed to the end of the runway where the aircraft was engulfed in flames, dousing it with chemical foam, an airport authority statement said.
"Unfortunately, there were no survivors on the flight," Manila airport general manager Ed Monreal told a news conference.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the Agusta WW24 aircraft apparently encountered an unspecified "technical problem” as it rolled to take off.
Video footage shows the aircraft engulfed in bright-orange flames in the darkness as firefighters scramble to put out the fire by spraying chemical foam while sirens blare.
Nearly three hours after the accident, the bodies of the victims were still inside the wreckage. Airport authorities were waiting for police investigators to examine the crash scene before retrieving the remains, Monreal said.
The airport's main runway was closed due to the accident.
Most passenger aircraft at the airport have been grounded for weeks since the government put Manila and the rest of the main Philippine island of Luzon on quarantine to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Agencies
